To see possibilities that do not exist in the present and work hard to bring them about: that is the stuff of creative leadership. To see possibilities that do not exist and work hard to make just one of them come true: that is the stuff of B-grade movies in which genetically modified monsters chase nubile young women under a moonless sky. The current digital push runs such a GM risk.

Digital India conjures up images of a connected economy, in which everyone, young and old, rich and poor, male and female, brandishes a mobile device that is capable of allowing him/her to communicate, learn, teach, entertain, be entertained, save, borrow, buy, sell, eat, pray, love.

Not By Tech AloneIf asked what is required for India to awake into that heaven of freedom from cash and want, the answer would be in terms of greater connectivity, bandwidth, affordable devices, and so on — broadly in terms of technology. The more thoughtful might add security, particularly cyber security and protection of privacy as additional requirements. But this is not enough. We need a functional legal system, insurance that can cover damage contingencies arising from cyber malfunction, a political system that can hold the executive in check and prevent it from converting the abundant opportunity for digital snooping and monitoring into totalitarian control.

In other words, Digital India cannot come about from pushing technology deployment alone but from the organic growth of society that allows creation of an entire ecosystem in which ubiquitous connectivity is boon rather than bane.

The ongoing drive to create a lesscash economy promises grotesque results. Take the real example of a friend who has gone to Chennai to get his eyes treated and finds out that his bank has blocked his account without informing him.

He holds an account with the Syndicate Bank at its branch in Khan Market, in the heart of the national capital. Syndicate Bank used to be one of the better-run banks, before the dawn of Digital India. Without warning, this friend discovered that his ATM card does not work. The national helpline number told him he has to contact his branch, which he promptly did.

He was told that the bank was complying with a government order relating to a class of ATM cards and things would be sorted out. He asked if a couple of cheques he had issued would be honoured and was assured they would be.

One of his cheques bounced. He called up the branch again, and was told his account was blocked. Why? Some electronic transfer without an associated Permanent Account Number was credited to his account. Now, the transfer has to be from another bank working according to RBI regulations. How could that account not have an associated PAN? We will try our best to resolve the problem, Sir, just give us your Know Your Customer documents. But you already have all the documents, including PAN and Aadhaar. Sir, give us those again. Having performed this act of giving, this friend now waits, for the problem to be resolved.

Society Has to EvolveSuppose the person or company to whom he had issued the cheque that bounced now sues him, under the revised and toughened law to penalise rubber cheques. Can the account holder sue the bank, in turn?

Suppose the second cheque he has issued for an insurance payment also does not collect and his medical insurance gets cancelled. Suppose he has a health emergency and has to stump up cash at the hospital.

Granted, he has friends, another bank account and a credit card. But suppose he did not. Who would bear responsibility for a near-death experience caused by an impersonal failure in the digital payment system of aforcibly cashless world?

For Digital India to be lived reality rather than snake oil, the answer to this question must have a definitive, actionable answer.

In the developed world, debate is underway on how to apportion risk and damage when a self-driving car gets involved in an accident with another self-driving car. Did a network failure cause the accident? Were the sensors on board either vehicle at fault? Or was it the processor that analysed the signals from the sensors? Why was the GPS back-up not effective in preventing the collision? Whose insurance should bear the brunt of the damage? Did a defective power surge from a hybrid capacitor storing the vehicle’s electric charge cause some sensitive component to burn out? Who can investigate the matter and fix accountability?

Would the insurance regulator supervise this mess? Or would it be the telecom regulator? After all, communication is the key to safe navigation of unmanned vehicles.

The short point is that making effective use of technology is not just a question of mastering the technology and deploying it on the ground. The state and society must, simultaneously, acquire the complex capability required to build an ecosystem in which the technology functions rather than malfunctions.